Armenia 

On 2 April, the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed his concerns over the calmness in the Armenian populace in regard to the coronavirus pandemic. “We can say that our situation is still within controllability. At the initial period, we were able to prevent the panic phenomena; but as I understand it, we prevented [it] too much. Now we cannot bring our society back to a balanced situation. There is widespread calmness in the country. Of course it's good from a mere psychological point of view, but it's a problem from an epidemic point of view because it is this calmness that creates the risk that the rate of infection can increase,“ he said, urging everyone not to be so calm about the situation.

Armenia’s Health Minister Arsen Torosyan spoke about the new sources of the virus take have emerged in the country. “We have imported cases just today. For example, by truck drivers crossing the border into Armenia, by our citizens returning by plane, which at least those cases we have confirmed are being detected mainly at border crossings,” he stated. He added that 80% of the infected persons were almost asymptomatic. 

He also spoke on the measures undertaken by the Health Ministry in order to combat the spread of the virus. 9 medical centers in the country were completely involved in the fight against the novel coronavirus. In addition, 16 hotels accepted infected patients with mild symptoms. Armenia’s largest hospital – the St. Gregory the Illuminator Medical Center of Yerevan – as a coronavirus-only hospital. Further, he emphasized beds have been placed at Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex, but there is also a plan to set aside halls and gyms in all the provinces of Armenia which, if necessary, will be turned into hospitals for patients in critical but stable and perhaps also critical conditions.

Torosyan also spoke on the availability of respiratory devices in the country. “So far we have mobilized 55 devices for the solution of the issue, of which 5 are being used currently,” he said. He added that respiratory devices will soon reach Armenia from China by a special flight. He said 100 of them are of one type, 5-6 of another. 

The current tally of infected persons in the country is 736, with 5 reported deaths.

Azerbaijan

The spokesperson of Azerbaijan’s Cabinet of Ministers Ibrahim Mammadov also voiced his worries about the spread of the virus in the country, not ruling out that Azerbaijan might declare a state of emergency. He remained optimistic though and added that if the citizens comply with the current rules “a positive turning point regarding coronavirus can start after 2 weeks” (Caucasus Watch reported). Touching upon the activities of the press, he said that journalists can act freely within Baku, Sumgait and the Absheron Peninsula. 

Mammadov also spoke about the current plans the Cabinet is developing. “We have to try not to harm the work of banks, not to lead them to bankruptcy. Consideration of [of these issues] is almost at the stage of completion. Documents that will be approved in the coming days are being prepared, and the public will be informed in detail about this,” he said.

“A decision regarding mitigation of damage suffered by citizens will be made in the coming days. Also, it is possible to provide assistance to low-income groups and families. Moreover, it is possible that the damage suffered by entrepreneurs will be mitigated. However, the amount of this assistance has not yet been determined,” the spokesperson added,” he added.

The  head of TABIB Yagut Garayeva outed her worries about the issue of the masks in the country. She also spoke about the construction planning for a new lab in the country.

The Azerbaijan Banks Association (ABA) issued a statement that the expiry period of all kinds of expired payment cards have been extended at least by one month taking into consideration the potential issues and the security requirements of internal structure of a bank.

The press service of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that China provided Azerbaijan with 5,000 tests free of charge to detect cases of COVID-19. It also emphasized that China plans to provide Azerbaijan with a second package of medical care, which will include respirators, protective clothing and other medical supplies.

Currently, 443 cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed in Azerbaijan, with 5 recorded deaths.

Georgia

The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) developed a temporary supervisory plan in order to reduce the negative effects caused by the coronavirus pandemic and to strengthen the Georgian economy. The plan of the NBG implies utilisation of the capital and liquidity buffers of the banking sector during the financial stress. This means lowering the capital and liquidity requirements, which would allow the banking sector to absorb potential losses and continue ordinary business activities and funding the real economy.

“Banks will get relief on the capital requirements by [a] reduction of the capital conservation buffer (2.5% of the risk weighted assets) and the portion of the pillar 2 buffer (2/3 of the currency induced credit risk buffer). This supervisory relief can free 1.6 billion lari of capital, which can be used for [the] absorbance of potential losses or funding the real economy with 16 billion lari. The banking sector, above the minimum requirements, has a capital buffer of 4 billion lari, which can be fully released in case of necessity,” read the NBG’s official statement. In addition, commercial banks shall not use the relief on capital requirements for dividends, share buybacks, equity investments, increasing variable remuneration for management or other types of distributions and payments, which causes reduction of bank capital. 

Online shopping in the country has again become permissible. In order to sell a product online, it is necessary for companies to allow the employees to work remotely from home. Earlier, only food was purchasable online.

The parliament's spokesperson Irakli Kobahidze stated that the ruling Georgian Dream party members in the Georgian government as well as in the Parliament will transfer 1/3 of their monthly salaries to the StopCov fund for the coming three months. Georgia’s Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze stated that the number of cases of coronavirus is expected to reach a peak in Georgia from the second half of April.

The current tally of infected persons in Georgia is 148, with no reported deaths.